Autumn is the Season of Changes
by Paris in December
Summary: Sirius finds Regulus in his secret cave to tell him about the Grangers. Written for the HPFC Four Seasons COMPETITION. Implied Regulus/Hermione father/daughter. Rated for mentions of rape. Chapters: 1/1. Separate, Together series.


**Author's Note: **Written for the Four Seasons COMPETITION by Rosalie'sRevenge on the HPFC forum.

* * *

The chill autumn wind is starting to get to Sirius by the time he finds the cave. It's the most isolated place he's ever been, a little hole in the cliff above a wide sea – he's not sure which one. In fact, he has no idea where he is, geographically; the directions were all pictures of Apparition locations.

Now that he can see the cave up above, it's not hard to Apparate up there. Or so he thinks, until he finds himself clinging desperately to the cliffside and wondering why in the _hell_ there isn't a ledge and how Regulus got up here in the first place.

"Regulus!" he shouts out, because what else can he do besides announce himself? "It's your brother! I need to talk to you!"

There is a long moment of silence, and Sirius has just about convinced himself that Regulus isn't going to respond when a dark head pokes out of the cave to stare at him. Now that Sirius has figured out about the resemblance, it startles him that he never noticed it before. It isn't just the eyes, which Sirius himself shares. Hermione's hair is the same shade of black, and there's something about the nose that Sirius can't quite place.

"Sirius?" Regulus's tone holds a mixture of hostility and bewilderment. "What are you doing here?"

"Help me out and I'll explain," says Sirius through gritted teeth.

Regulus eyes him for what feels like an eternity, but finally he uses a levitation charm to pluck Sirius off the cliffside and float him into the cave. Breathing heavily, Sirius wipes sweat off his forehead – _never doing that again_ – and sheds his cloak. It's a lot warmer in here than it is outside, probably due to a charm on the fire at the back of the cave.

"Well?" Regulus has apparently waited long enough for Sirius to calm down. "Talk."

"You have a daughter," Sirius says without preamble, because it seems like the best way to get Regulus to listen to him.

Regulus, who has been kneeling by the fire, sits back on his heels without turning around to face Sirius. "You can't have found me just to play a _prank_."

"It's _not _a prank," Sirius snaps, his patience already worn thin by the experience with the cliff. "Her name's Hermione Granger and her mother is a Muggle. Both of them have already treated me to a wonderful story about how you saved the mother's life by _raping_ her at a Death Eater gathering. Sound familiar?"

When Regulus turns at last, Sirius is pleased to notice that his face is completely white. So he was right – it _was_ Regulus. "How did you – you're sure? They told you that?"

"It was quite a story," Sirius affirms. Then, because he's in no mood to play nice with the reception he's had, he adds, "I liked the part at the end where you killed a nearby spider with _Avada kedavra_ to convince the other Death Eaters the woman was dead. That was quite clever."

Regulus is now a curious shade of green. "That… I couldn't _kill_ her, Sirius. The whole point was to _save_ her."

"By raping her," Sirius presses.

"What else was I supposed to do?" Regulus cries. He stands up, and Sirius stands too, because he doesn't like the feeling of his brother towering over him. "I couldn't just _leave_ the Death Eaters. I knew I was an idiot to join – don't tell me I didn't know!" Regulus starts pacing, using his arms to gesture wildly as he continues to rant. "But leaving would be suicide. So I pretended to like what we were doing. I found excuses not to kill anyone, and sometimes I had to do horrible things to make it work, or they would have started to notice, don't you see?" He stops in front of Sirius and grabs his shoulders, shaking him. "_I couldn't just stand by and watch them all die!_"

"Whoa, hey," says Sirius, placing his hands on Regulus's arms and pushing them down gently. He takes the movement a step further and eases Regulus to the floor, kneeling beside him without breaking the contact. Now he feels a bit guilty for being so pushy. Regulus has probably been agonizing over his Death Eater days in his every waking minute; it's not like there are any distractions out here in the middle of nowhere. "Calm down, Reg, okay? I don't really blame you. The Grangers don't blame you at all. Even the husband thinks you're a hero."

"A hero?" Regulus repeats, his voice choked. "Don't make me laugh."

"It's true. Hermione agrees; she practically begged me to find you." Sirius decides to leave out, for now, the part where the Grangers had convinced themselves that Regulus was the _only_ "good" wizard in existence. He can deal with that later, after Regulus has adjusted to having a child.

"I… I figured everyone thought I was dead."

"And so we did, until I found out about your stupid cave." Sirius smiles faintly. "Well, I had to follow up and make sure you were gone, or Hermione wouldn't ever have forgiven me. And considering she's Harry's best friend – that's James and Lily's son – I wouldn't have heard the end of it. So I went looking for evidence of your death, and instead I found evidence of your survival. It was a bit of a shock, to tell you the truth."

Regulus rewards him with a small smile of his own. "It's not a stupid cave," he says. "It's quite a lovely cave, actually. I could give you a tour, but you can see all of it from where you are."

Sirius laughs and squeezes Regulus's arms before letting go. "But maybe it's time to leave. You've been here for what, eleven years?"

"Has it been that long? Merlin, I feel old." With Sirius's help, Regulus stands up and starts to gather his meager possessions. "We can just Apparate out of here – I'm sure you don't want to climb down the cliff face." He doesn't see Sirius's horrible grimace, which is probably just as well. "Where exactly are we going?"

"Well, I'd take you to my house, but we still haven't located it. Had to stay at Hogwarts all summer – it was a miserable time. So I was thinking of bringing you to James and Lily's for now. I'll take you to the Grangers' later, and you can meet Hermione over Christmas break."

When Regulus turns around, Sirius can see the much warmer smile on his brother's face. "It's just like you to lose a house, isn't it? Christmas break… yes, I suppose it's been that long. Eleven years… that would make her what, twelve?"

"Thirteen," says Sirius. "She was born in September."

"What month is it now?"

"November. November second, to be exact."

"Well, autumn is the season of changes, I suppose." Regulus shakes his head and points to a bag on the floor. "Can you take that? I'll need to hold on to you with my other hand." He tilts his head to indicate the bag he's already holding.

"Sure." Sirius takes the bag and Regulus's proffered hand. "Changes for the better or for the worse?"

"I don't know. I would've said worse, except – is that a ring? You're _married_?"

Sirius bursts out laughing. "You only just noticed it? I got married around the time you disappeared, actually. You probably missed it by days, not that you would've come anyway."

"So who's the lucky guy?" Regulus asks curiously. "I'm assuming it's a man, I mean, considering you've never looked at a woman in your _life_…"

"Severus Snape." Sirius grins at the look of consternation on his brother's face. "I know, it sounds insane, but we actually dated secretly for a year and a half at school, so it wasn't completely unprecedented. What is it you were saying about changes for the worse?"

"Oh, er, I would've said worse, except that you've obviously got it in your head that it'll be better, so I'm not sure anymore," says Regulus.

Sirius smiles. "Don't worry, little brother. In my mind, autumn is the season of new beginnings."


End file.
